


all was golden in the sky

by briony_larkin



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Mentioned Jane/Thor - Freeform, mentioned clint/natasha, mentioned pepper/tony, mentioned sam/bucky, theyre both disasters but adorable disasters so it's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 00:25:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8868796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briony_larkin/pseuds/briony_larkin
Summary: Darcy sees The Most Beautiful Man In The World, but only when she looks like The Troll That Crawled Out Of That Dumpster Over There.Steve keeps embarrassing himself in front of a pretty girl that lives across the hall from him. He can't even figure out her name.Jane really wants her assistant to assist. Sam and Bucky are too busy laughing to help Steve. Natasha has capital-p Plans, and Clint doesn't want to know what they are.





	

**Author's Note:**

> minor edits 1/13/18

**September 19, 2016**

“Oh my God, Jaaaaaaane,” Darcy groans. She flops down at the table and buries her face in her arms. Jane actually looks up from her work at the sound of the muffled screams coming from her best friend’s mouth.

“What happened?”

“Oh, nothing,” Darcy says with a very obvious air of forced calm. “I just saw the most beautiful man in the world, that’s all.”

Jane raises an eyebrow.

“No, I know you’re banging, like, an actual god, Janey, but this guy was even hotter than Thor, I swear.”

Jane gives Darcy an extremely longsuffering look and says a little patronizingly, “Okay. So tell me, what did the most beautiful man in the world look like?”

A dreamy look crosses Darcy’s face and she stares off into the distance dramatically. “Like the smell of food when you’re hungry. Like the sun spilling over the water when it sets.” Then she looks at Jane. “Also, maybe kind of like Captain America minus the mask? If Captain America was the most beautiful man in the world, of course.”

“Of course,” Jane nods solemnly. “But, uh, what’s the screaming about?”

Darcy drops her head back into her arms and screams a little more.

“Yeah, that. What’s that about?”

“I was, like, ridiculously awkward! I saw him on the subway and I guess his total and utter beauty hypnotized me or something because I smiled at him, like, way too much for total and complete strangers ‘cause I just, like, assumed I knew him somehow?” Darcy rolls her eyes.

“Well, you probably won't ever see him again,” Jane says distractedly. She picks up her pencil and starts working on her equations.

“Sure,” Darcy raises her eyebrow. “But you know, if I _do/ _ever see him again, I'll be sure to embarrass myself. Gotta be consistent, right?”__

__*****_ _

__Bucky hears the door to the apartment slam and immediately drops Sam’s hand. He goes to pour them a cup of coffee as Sam sits at the table and tries to look innocent. Steve walks into the room with a distinctly dopey look on his face._ _

__Sam fidgets and flexes his hand. Steve looks between him and Bucky suspiciously. He opens his mouth–_ _

__“Wait, hold on,” Bucky says quickly, “I know that look. That was an ‘I saw someone hot and I'm half in love’ look. What's that about?”_ _

__“Sounds like you already know what that's about,” Steve says dryly._ _

__“I have an idea,” Bucky tells him, “but why don’t you clarify before I have to jump to any conclusions?”_ _

__There’s a wicked glint in Bucky’s eye that makes Steve pause and give in. “I swear, jerk, you’ve gotten worse since I moved outta the tower. But I just saw a pretty dame on the subway today.”_ _

__Sam twists in his seat and looks at Steve with interest. “Did you talk to her?”_ _

__“What’d she look like?” Bucky asks._ _

__“Curly, dark brown hair, blue eyes, real pretty smile.” A dopey grin spread across his face, remembering red lips and white teeth and a sweater the color of the yellow roses his mother loved._ _

__“Hold on,” Sam grins. “She smiled at you on the subway?”_ _

__Steve nods._ _

__“Was she with another man?”_ _

__Steve and Bucky stare blankly at Sam, who groans. “Aw, come on, neither one of you know that song? I thought everyone knew that song.”_ _

__“Um, frozen in ice.” Steve points at himself._ _

__“Brainwashed assassin for Mother Russia,” Bucky says._ _

__“Yeah, yeah, so you've got a good excuse. You've still gotta hear this song.” Sam queues it up on his phone._ _

__Steve hears, “My life is brilliant. My love is pure. I saw an angel, of that I'm sure,” before he shakes his head and stands up._ _

__“I'm leaving.” He starts walking toward the door, then pauses to yell over his shoulder, “And you can hold hands around me! I figured out you were dating three weeks ago!” The last thing he hears before the apartment door closes is Sam’s laughter and Bucky shouting that he's an ass._ _

__*****_ _

__Darcy stops dead in her tracks and stares ahead in horror. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she says to the sky._ _

__Shockingly enough, the universe does not answer her, but then the man ahead of her turns around a little bit, and she figures out that the universe is definitely not fucking kidding her. That is The Most Beautiful Man In The World. In her apartment building. Talking to her elderly neighbor. Taking her elevator–_ _

__“Shit!” she hisses under her breath._ _

__The Most Beautiful Man In The World lives in her apartment building._ _

__Shit. She is either never going to redeem herself, or..._ _

__No. Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope. She’s never going to redeem herself. Because she is in the sort of crowded elevator with him (and she can barely breathe) and he is getting off at her floor and– shit shit shit shit shit shit shit– he can’t possibly be..._ _

__But he is. Because the universe is a cruel mistress (master? Is there a gender-neutral version of that? If not, why?) and The Most Beautiful Man In The World lives exactly, precisely across the hall from her._ _

__Darcy lets herself into her apartment, thunks her head on the door, and groans, “Dammit, Jane!” What? She totally jinxed her. It’s totally her fault._ _

__Darcy’s cat winds around her ankles and begins meowing indignantly at her. “Yeah, yeah, Baudelaire. I’ll feed you. First I gotta go yell at Janey, though.” She stalks off to her bedroom to make a call_ _

__*****_ _

__Steve’s heart is pounding kind of embarrassingly fast. He knew that sweater, that smile, and those curls. That was the girl from the subway._ _

__He hears muffled cursing coming from across the hall, and hell, that girl has a mouth on her. But he couldn’t go and talk to her. _Why?__ _

__They’d been in the elevator together for at least a minute. They live across the hall from each other, he knows. What the hell is so hard about saying, “Hi, my name’s Steve”? God._ _

__He buries his face in his hand and promises himself two things: the next chance he has, he’s gonna introduce himself to her, and he can never, ever let Sam and Bucky find out about this._ _

__(He solidly fails at both of those things.)_ _

__

__**October 14, 2016** _ _

__It’s been a couple weeks since Darcy’s last sighting of The Most Beautiful Man In the World. Well, that’s not exactly true. It’s probably only actually been a week since the last time she saw him, but it's been a super long time since he's seen her. Hopefully._ _

__See, the universe still hates her, probably, because she never seems to catch sight of The Most Beautiful Man In The World when she looks like a decent, attractive individual, oh, _no_. She only ever sees The Most Beautiful Man In The World when she looks the The Troll That Crawled Out Of That Dumpster Over There. Like, she sees him when she's coming in off of babysitting Jane through an all-day all-night science bender, when she was coming back from the pharmacy because she'd thrown up all night, and when she had to go back upstairs because some asshole had bumped into her and she'd spilled coffee all over her shirt, but of course, she never sees him when she's going out, looking cute, or anything like that, because that would be just _too_ easy._ _

__And yeah, Natasha, she knows that they're neighbors, and she could totally introduce herself and it would be super easy. But it wouldn't be super easy, it would be awkward. And besides, it's been, like, a month since he moved in. The window of friendly “Congrats, you moved in!” Not-At- _All_ Awkward conversation has pretty much passed. Nah, it'll be much easier to just secretly pine from a distance._ _

__She locks her bike and sends a silent prayer to whatever hopefully merciful God is listening that she will not see The Most Beautiful Man In The World right now, _please_. It's an unseasonably warm October day, so she'd decided to ride her bike to the tower and back, which worked perfectly this morning. But now, it's like _eighty fucking degrees_ and _holy fucking hell_ , she's sweaty._ _

__But of _fucking_ course, she's coming into the building and she sees a very nice ass that she totally recognizes because that, that is the ass of The Most Beautiful Man In The World. Getting onto the elevator and _holding the door for her sweaty ass_._ _

___Great._ _ _

__Darcy steps onto the elevator and whispers, “Thanks.” She sweeps her hair up off of her neck and sighs, then suddenly becomes very aware of the sweaty patches over her underarms that have to be totally visible, and shoves her arms back down by her side._ _

__The Most Beautiful Man In The World is standing there stiffly, and of course they're the only ones in the elevator because hell is empty and all the devils are here. (Donald Trump’s running for president, hello?)_ _

__Darcy wants to scream and also probably put her eyes out with a spork by the time they reach their floor. He hasn't said anything to her, just stood there, staring straight into space._ _

__Oh, God, she smells all sweaty, doesn't she? And she doesn't have her bike, oh, holy shit, he doesn't know that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she's all sweaty,  
oh, God. She's gonna be the fucking Sweat Monster to him now. _Fuck.__ _

__The elevator bell dings and she hurries away, shielding her face with her cupped hand and cursing her entire existence._ _

__*****_ _

__Steve stumbles his way home. This last mission had been bad for all of them. He'd been gone a whole week and Bucky had been triggered by something and almost relapsed. And before that, of course, Natasha had told Sam and Bucky about his failure with the girl they'd started calling Angel. How Natasha knows that they’re neighbors and he still can't talk to the girl, he has no idea, and he figures he probably doesn't want to know._ _

__He staggers into the elevator and holds the door for whoever is coming up behind him, a little reluctantly. Steve would much rather be alone right now, but he isn't rude enough the make them wait._ _

__Angel walks on the elevator._ _

__(When did he start calling her Angel, anyway?)_ _

__Her face is flushed and shiny, eyes bright, the hairs that frame her face damp and curly. She lifts her hair off her neck. The movement makes her chest strain against the dark blue fabric of her pretty dress._ _

__Suddenly, she flushes even more and drops her arms. He realizes he must have been staring and immediately snaps his eyes to look straight ahead instead._ _

__The elevator doors open and she rushes off, her hand cupped around the side of her face._ _

__Oh, God, fuck, he probably freaked her out staring at her like that and she thinks he's a creeper and she hates him before he's ever talked to her._ _

___Great._ _ _

__He slumps against his apartment door, sighs, and swears. After a few seconds, he unlocks the door and lets himself in. Next time, he'll talk to her. He won't be so exhausted. And maybe, he might actually manage to _not_ make a fool of himself._ _

__

__**October 31, 2016** _ _

__Lights flash around, blinding red, green, and blue. The bass pounds underfoot, and Steve can feel its thump in his chest. He's never liked Halloween very much. Or maybe it's just that he's never been able to enjoy Halloween. When he was younger, he was either sick, or his ma didn't let him go out in fear that he'd get sick or hurt.  
Halloween was different back in his day. Kids didn't trick or treat so much. They did a hell of a lot more tricking, really. His ma didn't want him to get caught up in it, because, as she said, “Lord knows you get into enough trouble as it is, Steven Grant Rogers.” Sometimes he'd get to go to the neighborhood party, but not often, and not for long. He'd grown out of Halloween long before he was healthy enough to enjoy it._ _

__Then, of course, came the war. After, Tony invited him to his Halloween party every year, but it's never been very fun for him. Usually he leaves early, just like he's going to this year._ _

__No one will notice. No one ever notices. Well, that's probably not true. They notice, but they let him go. He's glad for that. He wouldn't want to ruin anyone else's night. He can go home and he'll be fine._ _

___I can go home and I'll be fine_ repeats in his head over and over again as he quietly slips out of the party._ _

__Steve walks up to the door of his apartment building and sees the now-familiar figure of a girl with her arms full struggling to open the door._ _

___Angel._ _ _

__He jogs over and reaches around her to open the door._ _

__“Thanks,” she says, the second thing she's ever said to him, the second time she's said that word to him, and her voice is still... beautiful, in a way he didn't expect anyone's voice could ever be to him._ _

__He catches a glimpse of what she's holding and laughs._ _

__*****_ _

__Darcy loves Halloween. She always has. When she was little, she always had the coolest costumes and took great pride in the annual costume contest held in her little town. She started planning her costumes in July. She'd better fucking win._ _

__As she grew up, she still had super awesome costumes, but Halloween was more of an excuse to go to an awesome party and probably make out with someone._ _

__Yeah, Darcy had kind of a self-destructive streak in high school. And college. And after college. And actually, right now, probably._ _

__Because she has abandoned drinking all night and making out with random people, so she needed other Halloween plans. Like a movie marathon alone in her apartment. Well, not exactly alone. Alone with her cat._ _

__(She did get an invite to Stark’s party, but Jane and Thor were off-world this week, Clint and Nat would only have eyes for each other, let's be real, Tony would be crazy and Pepper would be busy trying to reign in his crazy, and she isn't super great friends with the other Avengers. Hell, she hasn't even met Captain America yet. So she decided to go with Plan A, anyway.)_ _

__Unfortunately, she had lacked the necessary equipment for an all-night movie marathon that included but was not limited to Labyrinth, Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, some select Harry Potters, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the Polar Express, because at midnight on November first, it is Christmas time. That meant, of course, that she didn't have nearly enough popcorn or candy._ _

__She'd walked to the movie theater down the street and persuaded the college kid working to just sell her two buckets of popcorn and a box of Junior Mints for cheap. Hey, if you've got it flaunt it, work the system, fuck the patriarchy, and all that, right?_ _

__Damn. She should've been a lawyer._ _

__Darcy clutches a bucket of popcorn in each arm as she walks down the street. Inside one bucket of popcorn is her box of Junior Mints. Inside the other are about three drinks she bought at the 7-11 on the way back. She's trying to maneuver in order to get the door open without spilling any popcorn when someone reaches around her to open the door._ _

__“Thanks,” she gasps without turning around._ _

__Whoever is behind her lets out a deep laugh and a shiver runs up her spine. _Please, God, don't let them be a creepy serial killer.__ _

__She steps inside the building and feels safer as Henry The Security Dude (next chance she has, she's gonna thank Tony for her exorbitant salary that pays for a building with a security dude) waves at her and says, “So, are you having a party?”_ _

__“Oh, no, this is literally all for me,” she says as she turns around and sees The Most Beautiful Man In The World standing there because fuck her life, that's why. Her face goes white (well, whiter) and she squeezes her eyes shut, then turns back around and practically runs away– as best as she can carrying all her food, anyway._ _

__Of course he's a nice person who would open the door for the Sweat Monster Troll. Except now she's the Sweat Monster Troll-Pig._ _

__Great. That's so much better._ _

__She unlocks her door and sets her popcorn down. Then she pulls her phone out of her front pocket and dials. Nat can take her mouth off of Clint’s long enough to listen to this._ _

__*****_ _

__Angel's running away from him again. Steve curses himself for a fool. Why on earth can’t he have one normal interaction with the girl? He lets her go, though. What she must think of him, after all... He hasn’t exactly made a great impression._ _

__Staring at her so rudely that day in the elevator... She probably hates him. He wouldn’t blame her. Well, maybe she doesn’t hate him. That might be a little... drastic. But she probably thinks he’s weird, or creepy, or something._ _

__Wow. Bucky was right. Bucky has been right this whole time. Steve is absolute shit with people he likes._ _

__... And Steve can never, ever, let Bucky find out he even thought that. A shudder traces its way through his body at the mere thought of Bucky’s much too gleeful reaction._ _

__He unlocks his door, steps into his apartment, and it is only seconds before his cell phone rings._ _

__Steve looks at the caller ID and sighs, sure that it means that he’s going to have to go back out on another mission. “Hello?” he asks, reluctantly._ _

__“Hi, Steve!” Natasha chirps._ _

__Steve’s eyes narrow. Natasha does not chirp. “Is there a problem?”_ _

__“Well,” she says, much too smugly for Steve’s peace of mind, “not if you don’t consider your complete romantic ineptitude a problem.”_ _

__“Wha– how– how do you know about that? It’s been five minutes!”_ _

__“I have friends in high places and eyes everywhere,” she says in a sing-song voice._ _

__“At least one of those is true,” he mutters._ _

__“You know what, Rogers, I’m gonna let that one go.”_ _

__“How generous.” He raises his eyebrow._ _

__“I really am, aren’t I?”_ _

__“Is there a point to this?”_ _

__“Of course there is!” she says. She doesn’t actually say “duh”, but it feels highly implied. “Talk to the girl, Rogers.”_ _

__“Mmmm... Nice talk, Nat.” He hangs up._ _

__*****_ _

__Natasha allows him to end the call and grins smugly. Clint enters the bedroom, shaking his hair like a wet dog. He stops in his tracks when he sees the look on Natasha’s face._ _

__“Uh... what’s up?” he says extremely cautiously._ _

__Natasha’s grin widens even further. “You know I’m the best, right?”_ _

__“Of course I do.” He walks around to her and stands in between her legs, brushing her hair out of her face._ _

__“I have a couple of idiots that are going to be very happy together by Christmas.”_ _

__“You finally match Steve up with someone? Or was it Darcy?”_ _

__“Yes.”_ _

__Clint thinks about it for a few seconds and decides that’s probably all the information he wants to have. Plausible deniability, you know._ _

__

__**November 19, 2016** _ _

__There’s Christmas music blasting from across the hall again. It started on exactly midnight, November first, and hasn’t stopped since. It maybe wouldn’t be "blasting" for another person, but for Steve, it is conspicuously loud. The music is accompanied by a surprisingly good voice, certainly not professional, but still beautiful._ _

__He knows it's Angel’s voice. Sure, she's only ever said four words to him, but he knows her voice. For one thing, he can hear her talking a lot. She sure swears a lot, but from what he's heard– not on purpose– she's also really funny and kind. And, obviously, kind of loud. It's endearing._ _

___Damn_ , he's got it bad._ _

__A nasty little voice in the back of his head reminds him that it doesn't matter because she thinks he's a stalker and he proves her point every time he overhears her talking. Which is probably true._ _

__Steve really needs to figure out a way to redeem himself._ _

__The Christmas music from across the hall suddenly cuts off and he hears Angel yell goodbye to someone called Baudelaire she promises to feed when she gets back. There's a faint meowing of response and he laughs aloud when he realizes that Baudelaire must be a cat._ _

__He moves around the apartment and makes himself dinner. Frozen pizza. Bucky was really the better cook of the two of them. Steve could probably burn water._ _

__Steve sits on the couch to eat his four frozen pizzas and decides to watch TV. What is that show that Sam’s always insisting he should watch? There it is. Parks and Recreation. Sam hasn’t really told him what it is, aside from “pure comedy gold” and “one of the absolute best shows ever aside from Brooklyn 99,” but Steve figures it must be funny. Sam likes to laugh at movies and TV programs and books, so anything Sam likes will be funny, and Steve could use something funny lately._ _

__He clicks on the first episode and tries not to think about Angel._ _

__*****_ _

__This is without a doubt one of the worst blind dates Darcy had ever been on. This guy hasn’t asked her a single question about herself all night, and he's giving off every signal that says she needs a way to escape this date immediately. Not, like, “serial killer” signals, but “dudest-of-the-dudebros” signals. He picked her up wearing a fucking _fedora_ , for hell’s sake. He keeps referring to his ex-girlfriends and calling them crazy bitches. When he starts talking about his “Great American Novel,” Darcy is vaguely interested– so she can gleefully recount the experience later– but then he starts talking about his issues with his parents, and she's had enough._ _

__“Oh no!” she cries, looking at her phone._ _

__He can't, it seems, pull his head out of his ass long enough to even ask her if something’s wrong, just stares at her in silence._ _

__“My friend just got in a car accident. She's fine, but I have to go to the hospital.” She slides her arms into her coat and prays that for once, she is a good enough liar to fool someone._ _

__“Oh,” Brian says, looking crestfallen. Then he brightens and suggests, “We should do this again.”_ _

__Darcy's hand hovers over her phone while she tries to think of a way to let the dude down at least not super rudely. “Uh... I don’t... I don’t know...”_ _

__He fucking _lunges_ across the table to grab her hand and knocks over a bowl of salsa, straight into Darcy’s lap. She jumps up and snatches her hand away like she’s been burned. She hurriedly throws a couple of bills down on the table and says. “Bye, Brian,” then fucking _books it_ out of the restaurant._ _

__Darcy fumes the whole way back to her apartment. This is it. The Worst Date. Nothing will beat this. Then she thinks about how it’s fucking Thanksgiving next week and she’s going home to her tiny-ass town and her aunts are gonna ask about her “dating prospects” and her racist uncle is inevitably going to say something about how glad he is that Trump got fucking elected and she’s going to get in a fight with him and she’s in an even worse mood now, thank you._ _

__She can’t imagine how this could get any worse. Until, of course, someone else steps onto the elevator, and, of course, it’s The Most Beautiful Man In The World._ _

__Well, doesn’t that feel familiar._ _

__*****_ _

__Steve finished all of his pizza three episodes ago. He didn’t care that much until he ran out of ice cream, too. Sam told him very firmly when he was instructing Steve and Bucky on twenty-first century life that, “One does not simply have a binge-watching session without proper food to pig out on.” Running out of ice cream means he has run out of proper food, but he isn’t ready to stop binge-watching._ _

__Obviously, that means he’s just gonna have to run to the store and buy more Cherry Garcia. (Ben and Jerry’s support Black Lives Matter, he supports Ben and Jerry’s.)_ _

__He grabs several containers and hurriedly checks out. The fall air is crisp around him. Leaves blow across the pavement. More and more Christmas lights are up, but Steve hardly notices. He's kind of lost in his own mind. It takes him a good three seconds to even notice there’s someone else in the elevator with him. It only takes another quarter second to realize who it is._ _

__Angel._ _

__She’s wearing a gorgeous slinky black dress that clings to her. It makes him blush that he noticed, but he couldn’t help it. Steve goes to look away from her, trying to respect her space, when he notices two other things. First, there’s a huge stain on the front of her dress, like she or someone else spilled something. Second, her expression isn’t either neutral or positive. She’s staring into the distance with a face that says as distinctly as if she spoke it aloud, “I am in a shitty mood.”_ _

__Steve wants to say something, but he just can’t. There’s no way she wants to talk to him, not ever, probably, and definitely not when she’s in a bad mood._ _

__He watches her walk off the elevator and promises himself he’ll talk to her next time. Next time..._ _

__

__**December 4, 2016** _ _

__Darcy’s feet are killing her. She’s been shopping for way too fucking long, if you ask her. Shopping for herself with unlimited money (thanks Tony!) is fun. Shopping for Christmas presents with very limited money (thanks, student debt!) is, well, _less_ fun. _ _

__Plus it's, like, almost midnight, her arms are weighed down by bags the (maybe) two trips to the gym a month did nothing to prepare her for, and if she thinks about the amount of money she spent today, she'll probably cry. Better not do that, then._ _

__Yeah, Darcy is super ready to be home. She's gonna make herself some mac and cheese out of the box, turn on Gilmore Girls, and cuddle with Baudelaire. Assuming the dumb cat will stand to be cuddled, anyway._ _

__She steps into the elevator and she can feel the bags sliding off her shoulder. “Noooooo,” she whines. “Come on, just stay on my shoulder for a couple more seconds.”_ _

__So maybe talking to yourself is the first sign of madness or whatever. Looking at the rest of her life, Darcy thinks she maybe went a little crazy a long time ago. Time to embrace the crazy. If you got it, flaunt it, right?_ _

__Darcy steps out of the elevator. She bends to unlock her door and the heaviest of the bags finally gives up the ghost and tumbles from its precarious perch on her shoulder, landing on the ground and a bit of Darcy’s toes with a loud thud. She swears vehemently and starts ranting at the bag. “Seriously?! What the fuck! I specifically told you not to! I asked very nicely! Well, you just see if I even pick you up anymore. I’ll just kick you the fuck inside, you just watch!”_ _

__She doesn’t hear the door behind her open._ _

__“Miss?” a deep voice inquires. “Do you need some help?”_ _

__She sighs, and turns around. Then she looks up at the sky and says defeatedly, “Are you for fucking real right now?” She looks back at The Most Beautiful Man In The World and says, “I swear I’m not crazy.”_ _

__He grins down at her and her breath catches in her throat as he promises, “I never thought you were. Would you like me to help you get your things inside?”_ _

__It only takes Darcy five seconds to figure what the hell, this is the closest she’ll ever get to taking home The Most Beautiful Man In The World, so why not? “Sure, thanks.”_ _

__He takes some (okay, most. he’s muscle-y! he can afford to!) of the bags off her arms and picks up the one on the floor. Darcy opens the door and points him to her kitchen table. “You can just set them there, that’ll be great, thank you.”_ _

__“You sure?”_ _

__“Yeah, I’ll put them away or wrap them or whatever later-slash-never.”_ _

__He turns around and looks at her, almost... bashfully? Free of her things, he approaches her with an arm outstretched. “Sorry, I don't think I've introduced myself. I’m Steve.”_ _

__She smiles at him, probably way too nicely, but she really doesn’t have the energy to give a fuck. “Nice to meet you, Steve. I’m Darcy.”_ _

__*****_ _

___Darcy._ _ _

__Her name, her real name rings in his head, louder, much louder than sirens or bells. It’s like his whole body is vibrating, every particle of him charged with some strange energy, and then she reaches out to shake his hand, she touches him, and he _explodes_._ _

__His face stays still and stony, frozen in its now overly polite smile. And he’s made it weird again. Great. At least he knows her name now? That should get Natasha off his back for at least a few days... But as for right now, he’s got to leave. “Hi,” he says, and curses himself for being a stupid, awkward fool. “Well, uh, it’s late, and,” he points a thumb toward the door, “I guess I better go and let you, uh...” Unable to think of a single thing to end that with that doesn’t sound creepy or awkward, he finishes lamely with, “Yeah.”_ _

__But she huffs out a tiny little laugh, so he figures he’s probably not a complete disaster. “Bye, Steve,” she says with an amused twist to her lips._ _

__He grins back at her stupidly and says, “Bye,” before letting himself out the door._ _

__

__**December 18, 2016** _ _

__Stark’s Christmas party is usually a pretty good time. Well, a better time than his Halloween party, anyway. Steve likes the Christmas party now that he has Bucky back. Bucky’s probably gonna spend a good eighty percent of the party in the corner making out with Sam this year, but it should still be pretty fun. This year, this Christmas, is different than any Christmas since he woke up, and even before that. This Christmas is the happiest he’s been in a long time._ _

__Sure, he’s gonna have to go and deal with Natasha’s matchmaking, and Tony being Tony, and seeing Bucky and Sam make out is always gonna feel a little like watching his brother kiss someone– but he has a family. The team is his family, and it feels good._ _

__Steve straightens his tie in the mirror. Natasha had been oddly insistent that he had to wear a red tie. Of course, she couldn’t give him a real reason why, other than “Red is a Christmas color and it’s a Christmas party.” He doesn’t believe that for a second, but usually with Natasha, it’s best to do what she wants first and ask questions, well, to borrow a phrase from Darcy, “later-slash-never”._ _

__Speaking of Darcy, he can hear her Christmas music bleeding from across the hall. Her low, pretty voice accompanies the music, singing, “All I want for Christmas is you.” He can’t help the warm grin that spreads over his face._ _

__He takes one last look in the mirror and walks out the door, that smile still etched on his face._ _

__*****_ _

__Darcy huffs and pulls her dress up over her boobs... again. The dress is a very pretty red, silky fabric. Natasha picked it out. It’s got a sweetheart neckline and fluttery sleeves, with a floaty, short skirt that falls about mid-thigh._ _

__She’s gonna freeze her ass off._ _

__But with as hot as she looks in the dress, that alone might be alone to keep her warm. Darcy smirks at herself in the mirror. She twirls around once and maybe sort of giggles when her skirt flares out. Totally freaking ready for Tony’s Christmas party, hell yeah._ _

__He promised to introduce her to Captain America (fucking finally!), and so Darcy told him she’d need a new dress if he was gonna make her do that. He handed her his credit card, and she squealed and forced Jane to abandon her Science and Nat to abandon whatever revenge she was planning, probably on Bucky, so they could go shopping._ _

__Nat’s always had a good eye for clothes and all that shit, so when she picked out Darcy’s dress, Darcy attributed the gleam in Natasha’s eye to satisfaction at being right again, but Darcy really isn’t sure. That gleam was not an “I am right and it makes me happy” gleam. That was distinctly an “I have a plan and I can’t wait to see it executed” gleam. But Darcy knows better than to ask what Nat’s up to. So she just took the dress, gleefully bought it with Tony’s credit card, and followed Natasha’s instructions to the letter._ _

__It’s always a good idea to do what Nat says._ _

__Satisfied that she really does look hot as hell, just like Natasha promised, Darcy does one last twirl in the mirror, then grabs her coat and walks out the door._ _

__*****_ _

__This party has “Pepper Potts organized this and refused to let Tony near it” written all over it. Quiet Christmas music plays in the background. The decorations, while red and gold, lack almost all of the garishness present in Tony’s usual decor. Holly is strung up high where the ceiling meets the walls. There are several Christmas trees with gold baubles and gold-hued lights glittering. The red that is present is much brighter, and it almost matches Darcy’s dress. The lighting is dim, but warm, and slightly flickering, giving the impression that the whole room is lit by firelight._ _

__It feels warm. It feels like a home._ _

__The party is also much smaller than Tony’s usual crowd. There are plenty of important people there, of course, but it feels like it’s mostly like it’s friends._ _

__“Short Stack!” Tony calls. “Nice to see my money was well spent.”_ _

__Darcy rolls her eyes. “Come on, Tony. You didn’t even miss it.”_ _

__“You’re right, I didn’t.”_ _

__Darcy rolls her eyes again. She does that a lot around Tony. “Was there a point to this?”_ _

__Tony gasps and clutches at his chest. “Of course there was a point to this, Lewis! I am hurt!”_ _

__Darcy raises an eyebrow and gives him a Look. His eyes get a little wide and she swears she can almost feel the fear she has just struck into his soul. She smiles sweetly at him. “I've been imitating Pepper.”_ _

__“Sweet Jesus,” Tony says, horrified._ _

__“Now, what was the point?”_ _

__“Relax, Lewis. Just trying to boost your confidence before I introduce you to the good Captain,” Tony mutters. Then he looks around the room before focusing in on a tall blonde man and shouting, “Hey, Rogers! Get your ass over here!”_ _

__... That's The Most Beautiful Man In The World. Aka Steve. Aka _Captain Fucking America_._ _

__Captain Fucking America who is Darcy’s _neighbor_._ _

__Holy fucking shitballs._ _

__Steve draws close. Tony says, “Darcy, this is Steve Rogers. Steve, this is–”_ _

__Steve’s eyes are huge. “Darcy?”_ _

__*****_ _

__His heart is pounding so loud he’s afraid she can hear it. Darcy? Why is she here?_ _

__Tony stares at them in barely contained glee. “You two know each other?”_ _

__“Yeah,” Darcy says, but her blue eyes don’t leave Steve’s. “We live across the hall from each other.”_ _

__“Oh, really?” Tony's eyes are gleaming and he opens his mouth to say something else, but all that comes out is, “OUCH!”_ _

__(Natasha stalked up behind him, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him away. Steve and Darcy don't even notice.)_ _

__“So how do you know Tony?” Steve asks._ _

__“Well, I work for Jane–”_ _

__Steve inhales sharply. Darcy stops talking and looks at him inquisitively. A light flush colors Steve's cheeks. “Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, I just realized... You're Thor’s Darcy, aren't you? His lightening sister? He's mentioned you.”_ _

__Darcy's lips part slightly and her head tilts to the side. “He has?”_ _

__“Oh yeah.” Steve nods emphatically. “The story of you, uh, ‘felling him with your little lightening box,’ is one he's very fond of repeating.”_ _

__She hums and gazes mock-dreamily into the distance. “It's a pretty great story.”_ _

__Unfortunately, not even Natasha's machinations could make everyone leave them alone for long. Or perhaps it was precisely of Natasha's machinations that Sam and Bucky walked up to Steve, hand-in-hand._ _

__“Heya, punk.” Bucky punches Steve on the arm. He's always had a very healthy way of expressing his emotions, Steve thinks wryly. Bucky steps up to Darcy, makes a low, elaborate bow, takes her hand, and brushes a kiss on the back of it._ _

__Darcy doesn't look very impressed, much to Steve's relief. Her lips quirk like she's fighting a smile, but she raises an eyebrow and says airily, “I don't think moves like that are gonna impress your boyfriend very much.”_ _

__Bucky lets out a loud, surprised bark of laughter and returns, “Stevie ain't my boyfriend, and of the two of us, I ain't the one tryin’ to impress you.”_ _

__“Oh, I didn't think for a second that _Steve_ was your boyfriend, but still, that's nice to know.” The smile on Darcy's face would rot a dentist’s teeth._ _

__Sam’s expression immediately makes Steve wary. That's his “troll” face. Steve is very familiar with it. “So Darcy, your middle name isn't Angel, by any chance, is it?” Sam asks._ _

__“Actually,” Darcy frowns, “it's Angelica. Why?”_ _

__Bucky starts laughing hysterically. Sam has an arm around him and is laughing too, trying to keep them both on their feet, while saying in disbelief, “Oh my God. Oh my God. I don't believe it. Oh my God.”_ _

__“Okay...” Darcy says slowly. “What's so funny?”_ _

__Steve shrugs helplessly. He has a good idea of what's so funny but he doesn't think he can make himself explain._ _

__Finally, Bucky calms down enough to explain. “This idiot,” he jabs a thumb at Steve, “saw a pretty girl on the subway a few months ago, and we started calling her Angel to be funny–”_ _

__“Like that James Blunt song ‘You're Beautiful,’” Sam explains._ _

__Darcy looks at the ceiling and whispers a curse in that particular tone of voice reserved for a bad joke that's actually kind of funny._ _

__“And then,” Bucky chortles, “we find out that that girl lives across from him, and that girl is _you_ , and your middle name is Angelica...” He trails off and wipes an imaginary tear from his eye._ _

__“Hold on,” Steve says peevishly, “you didn't want to tell me you knew Darcy or anything like that?”_ _

__Sam shrugged. “We only figured out who it was when you finally stopped calling her Angel and started calling her Darcy instead. And but that point we figured you could manage on your own.”_ _

__That's it. That's gotta be the nail in his coffin. No way in hell Darcy’ll go out with him now._ _

__But she looks at him teasingly. “I guess that’s okay, because before I knew your name, I called you The Most Beautiful Man In The World. And I came up with that on my own, so...”_ _

__Steve grins down at her. They completely ignore Bucky’s spluttered squawk of indignation that Darcy doesn’t consider him the most beautiful man in the world. Tough._ _

__“Wanna get coffee tomorrow?” Darcy asks._ _

__Steve’s grin widens. “Like, a date?” he clarifies._ _

__“Yes, you dork. Like a date.”_ _

__“Definitely.”_ _

__*****_ _

__They do end up having coffee the next morning, but not at the cute coffee shop around the corner. Instead, it's inside Steve’s apartment, Steve in sweatpants helping Darcy, who's wearing his shirt, reach the salt for the eggs. Privately, Darcy thinks that this is much better than the coffee shop. She watches Steve bend to get muffins out of the oven and decides that the view here,at least, is much better, anyway._ _


End file.
